What does a modern battleship cost? A lot. | Headlines

President Donald Trump signed an executive order recently establishing a formal commission

to address decades-old, persistent problems facing military spouses and families. America cannot have the strongest military in the world without the love and devotion

of our remarkable military spouses who make the extraordinary sacrifices for our country

Today, I'm signing an executive order to establish the first ever presidential military spouse commission

Trump signed the order during a ceremony at the White House, flanked by more than a dozen military spouses

who will be part of the new commission. The president's Military Spouse Commission

will make suggestions for improving quality of life in the areas of spouse employment, housing, education

child care, health care, deployment-related support, and other areas, Trump said. He also noted the strains of separation

from loved ones deployed overseas and the frequency of permanent change of station moves

Many military spouses spend months separated from their loved ones while our heroes are deployed overseas

Military families also endure frequent moves and other unique challenges. And the challenges are legendary. They write books about them

This commission will provide recommendations for improving the quality of life for military spouses

so that we can better support both our military families and the entire United States Armed Forces

We've never had this opportunity. We're doing it now because we've done a lot for our military

We love our military. For more than a decade, military spouses have struggled with unemployment rates above 20%

in addition to various problems with housing, lack of affordable child care

and persistent issues with access to health care. The Commission's duties will include connecting with military spouses

to determine common areas of concern, according to the executive order. What I like to say is we serve by oath or by vow

We didn't all raise our right hand to take an oath, but we began serving this great nation

when we extended our left hand and said a vow to the person that we love that served this country And we represent people that are at the end of their careers We have served decades 20 30 40 years of service

This is about the legacy that we leave for the people that come after us, for these people who have children who are serving now

or for families that we say, we love you, we care about you, and we are the greatest military in the world

and part of that is taking care of our families. The foundation of American military readiness is the families

and the backstopping of all of that is the military spouses that serve behind them

Inevitably, every time somebody deploys, that refrigerator will break down, the car will break down

You think we're strong. American military spouses are 10 times stronger, and the lift that they carry is significant every single day

The spouses will serve without compensation, but they may receive reimbursement for travel expenses

The group will meet each month at the White House and will provide a report on the issues

at the end of each fiscal year for as long as the commission exists

The commission will end two years from now unless the president extends it, according

to the executive order. Taiwan began major military drills recently to test commanders' ability to fight in changing

conditions when enemy movements defy expectations and in information-denied environments. The 10-day annual military exercise began early in the morning after an underground command

center in Taipei issued the drill order, triggering combat readiness moves that include

fighter jet dispersals and emergency naval deployments, two senior Taiwan officials briefed on the matter said. Taiwan will also incorporate for the first time a so-called

back brief approach modeled on US military practice, in which junior officers receiving

orders restate mission details to commanders, a move aimed at improving coordination

The drill will also focus on a key wartime concern, that China, which claims Taiwan as

its own despite the island objections would try to paralyze command centers ports logistics and defense industry sites early in an attack Held annually since 1984 the drills for the first time will include the deliberate slowing of mobile internet speeds

to test how civilians would communicate if bandwidth became scarce. The military will simulate the wartime relocation of a major arsenal

mobilize civilian factories and run escort drills off Taiwan's Pacific coast. As concern grows, that Beijing may be rehearsing how to sever the island's Pacific supply lines from allies as Chinese military pressure intensifies

The potential cost of the Navy's new nuclear-powered battleship procurement program is estimated to reach an eye-popping $275 billion

dollars, with the first Trump-class battleship costing $23.4 billion, according to a Congressional

Budget Office report published recently. The Trump administration in December announced its intention to build a new class of large

surface combatants designated as the Trump-class guided missile battleship. Welcome to Mar-a-Lago for this exciting announcement of the new Golden Fleet

We're calling it the Golden Fleet that we're building for the United States Navy

As you know, we're desperately in need of ships. Our ships are, some of them have gotten old and tired and obsolete, and we're going to go the exact opposite direction

As Commander-in-Chief, it's my great honor to announce that I have approved a plan for the Navy to begin the construction of two brand new, very large, largest we've ever built battleships

If built, the 35,000-ton nuclear battleship will be the most heavily armed surface vessel the U.S. Navy has ever constructed

possessing anti-air, land attack, and anti-ship missiles, hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, large lasers, and a railgun

The Navy projects that between 2028 and 2056, it will build 15 Trump-class guided missile battleships

with the subsequent 14 costing $18 billion each. By contrast the USS Gerald R Ford the U Navy premier nuclear aircraft carrier cost approximately billion The report also noted that while the price tag will be immense up front over time by switching

to nuclear power, it would reduce the battleship's operating costs by eliminating the need to

purchase fuel. Since the December announcement, the cost of Trump-class battleships has been a

moving target, with the updated $23.4 billion, roughly $6 billion more than the initial Navy

projection. Did you know the military still maintains a horse cavalry detachment? Often

thought of as a relic of another era, the units still live on in Texas, where one group is tasked

with keeping their tradition alive. Here's more. So the horse detachment is primarily all about

public relations, recruiting efforts, and keeping up with the standards and drill tradition of late

1800s and we start out with drill and ceremony. So drill and ceremony is just

like your formations with soldiers except it's on horseback. After that we

go into weapons utilization and then we utilize the 1860 light cavalry saber

1873 Colt single-action revolver, and the 1873 Springfield carbine just like they did back in the late 1800s. Dealing with animals, people, you get to see a

a different perspective of the Army for sure. So it's very interesting to be able to take care of

animals every single day, you know, because maybe it's like taking care of kids

but it's like they can't talk, right? So you have to put them first. And it's just fun

It's fun to work with the people that actually want to be out here because we do go through a trial process

And the people that are out here are the people that want to be. So it's really fun working with those kind of people that have that motivation and drive

Today, you know, we've got tanks, we've got helicopters, all those things

but the horses are what started it all for the Calvary. And I think that it's important to keep them alive

because without them, there wouldn't be a Calvary. That's what makes up the Calvary